Long-time Sunshine Coast resident and media personality Fin Anthony has died.
Anthony passed away July 19 at the age of 87, leaving behind his children Patsy, John and Bruce and five grandchildren. His wife Audrey died in 2002.
Bruce Anthony said it was a passion for salmon fishing that first brought Fin and Audrey to the Sunshine Coast, as well as a family connection – Anthony’s mother had worked for the Whitaker’s hotel in Sechelt for a time in the ’50s.
“Mom and Dad bought a property in Roberts Creek at the end of Beach [Avenue] in 1966 and built a small cabin,” Bruce recalled. “My brother and sister and I enjoyed spending most of the summer at Roberts Creek while growing up. When we wanted fish for dinner it didn’t take us long to row out and catch a ling cod. It was also quite easy to catch coho salmon.
“In 1977 my parents bought a waterfront lot in Halfmoon Bay and built a larger cabin, which eventually became their retirement home. This also made it closer to some of our favourite salmon fishing spots: Merry Island, Pirate Rock and Epsom Point. As salmon became sparse, Dad spent more time fly-fishing the beaches for sea-run cutthroat trout.”
Anthony’s broadcasting career included stints at CKMO in Vancouver (later CFUN) and CKNW. He also founded the world’s first and largest salmon fishing derby in 1958 as a project for B.C.’s centennial and hosted a fishing show on KVOS-TV.
He served as president of the Save Our Salmon Society, Save the Fish Foundation, and the Pacific Salmon Society.
Even after retiring from broadcasting, Anthony kept up with the industry.
Bob Morris, one of the founding partners of CKAY-FM, the Sunshine Coast’s first locally based commercial radio station, said Anthony was “one of the best creative minds I knew” and he used his experience to help the start-up station back in 2006.
“He was in to the station many times and cut a whole series of spots that we used to promote the station,” remembered Morris.
Anthony also lent his signature voice to a series of radio ads during the 2014 municipal election.
Sechelt resident Marc Nixon was also actively involved in that election.
“This is how Fin Anthony first introduced himself to me: ‘Fin is a most modest man and really has nothing about which to so be.’ His modesty was ‘unbelievable,’” said Nixon, echoing the tag line from those campaign ads.
“We met due to a shared interest in better local governance and became fast friends, as we could find no topics on which to disagree. Fin’s rapier wit and wisdom is irreplaceable. He was a mentor, the best teacher and a very dear friend. He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.”
Bruce Anthony said his father’s interest in local politics grew out of his efforts to draw attention to the environmental issues through his devotion to sport fishing and protecting those resources.
“As he became more involved in the environment and supporting the recovery of salmon and fish habitat, this led to an increased interest in political issues and he became quick to pick up the phone or pen a letter to have his voice heard. I think his primary motivation was to ensure good stewardship of our resources – be it the environment or tax dollars.”
Coast Reporter readers will have seen Anthony’s sense of humour at play in our letters section, and many others got to experience it first hand when Anthony gave the 2015 Clifford Smith Memorial Lecture for ElderU.
It included his tale of how he and Charles ‘Chunky’ Woodward became friends. Anthony was the spokesman for the department store chain for more than 20 years, and to this day his name is linked with their famous $1.49 Day promotions.
Anthony told the crowd that he and Woodward became close friends after the millionaire retailer couldn’t afford to get his car out of the parking lot and had to borrow the $2 from Anthony.
“If you know millionaires,” Anthony said, “you know they never carry money around with them.”
Woodward invited Anthony out to lunch after having to borrow parking money a second time, and the friendship grew from there.
Bruce Anthony said a favourite memory of his was fly-fishing with his dad a few years ago.
“He was always keen to cast a fly on a new beach, so after my wife and I had built a cabin on Gambier Island, he and a friend came over to try our beach. It was inspiring to see both men in their 80s put on their chest waders and effortlessly cast a fly further than I ever could. And despite hooking into a few nice cutthroats, they ensured we released everything we caught.”
The family is planning to hold a celebration of life in the fall.
